A new DNA test has nearly 100 per cent accuracy to test whether a bull will develop horns.

ABC

Dehorning, the confronting and bloody procedure many in the beef industry feared would be its next animal welfare flashpoint, could soon be a thing of the past.

A $25 DNA test, which identifies whether a bull carries the gene for horns or not, means producers can now confidently and quickly breed horned animals out of their herds.

"Using normal breeding practices it would take 39 years, but the new Poll Gene Marker test reduces that down to eight years," former Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) CEO Scott Hansen said.

"This is a great breakthrough for the industry. It's been a really transformational piece of work."

A DNA test was released four years ago with one gene marker, but there were accuracy problems with some breeds.

The new test identifies 10 gene markers for polledness - animals born without horns - and has nearly 100 per cent accuracy across all breeds.

The RSPCA, which wants dehorning phased out, has praised the beef industry for investing grower levies in animal welfare research.

"Even though it will take some years, it's great to see an industry be progressive and look at ways for reducing or indeed eliminating procedures that are painful for animals," the RSPCA's Melina Tensen said.

"It's absolutely fabulous. Farmers now have this option that they can use to basically eliminate the need for dehorning."

Dehorning is done to stop stock harming themselves and their handlers.

It involves the surgical removal of horn buds, preferably before they fuse with the skull.

Laws governing the practice differ in each state, but it is accepted that the latest the procedure should be done is before an animal turns one, with a preference for dehorning animals before they are six months old.

Ms Tensen says the practice is confronting to watch.

"Dehorning is extremely painful and distressing," she said.

"We're talking about a fairly large wound, particularly the older the animal, the bigger the horn, the bigger the wound.

"There's potential for heavy blood loss, for infection and even death."

MLA's Jim Rothwell says the procedure is undoubtedly painful.

"The aim is to remove the growth area, the horn bud if you like, from the skull of the animal so it's surgically excised," he said.

"If it's done in young animals, particularly in the dairy industry, or in more intensively managed beef herds when the animal is young and the horn bud is small it's less painful.

"The problems, I think, arise as the horn grows into the skull and connects to the skull, then the dehorning operation becomes more painful."

Mr Rothwell says it is on the big cattle stations in northern Australia the issue is most pressing.

"When they muster them once or twice a year, inevitably some of those animals are going to be more than six to eight months of age," he said.

"Inevitably with some of those calves, the horn bud will have grown into the skull, so inevitably when you dehorn them you'll be cutting a piece of the skull out."